


Fear

by gleefulmusings



Series: Bits and Pieces [7]
Category: Glee, Scream (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Minor Character Death, surprise crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-24 10:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1601381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gleefulmusings/pseuds/gleefulmusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Kurt inherits his family's curse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fear

Sam watched passively but with concern as Kurt attempted to navigate the upperclassmen hallway. His eyes narrowed upon noticing that he wasn't truly paying attention to where he was walking, sideswiping fellow Cheerio Angela Gardner, who accepted his perfunctory apology with aplomb and a great deal of flirting.

Angela frowned when, instead of flirting back as was their routine, Kurt simply gave her a halfhearted smile and ambled away. She noted his hand was wound so tightly around the strap of his messenger bag, his fingers had turned white. She blinked in confusion and slowly turned around, catching Sam's eye.

They were not friends, more like acquaintances, and knew each other only through Kurt. They knew enough, however, to understand that both of them had observed how off-kilter Kurt was today.

They exchanged shrugs and went in opposite directions, worried for their friend but knowing it was useless. Kurt would only talk about his problems when there was no other choice.

* * *

Finn was alarmed.

He knew something was off about Kurt today. Well, actually, it had started last week. It was also affecting Burt, which was really weird, because not much ruffled his feathers. Burt was pretty easygoing unless one of his own was threatened.

And that's why Finn was alarmed, because he was scared Kurt was in trouble. Burt had been pacing around all week like a caged tiger ready to pounce. He had noticed it, and his mom had too, but Burt and Kurt weren't talking. The strange thing was that neither one of them had denied something was wrong, but instead simply refused to discuss it. That was weird. Faking nonchalance was usually how the Hummels operated, so the avoidance was _strange_.

Burt's pacing and Kurt's paranoia were a mystery.

Of course, _life_ was a mystery. Everyone must stand alone.

He shook his head to clear it before he started singing. He didn't want Rachel or Kurt knowing just how much he liked Madonna. They'd make him sing her songs again and Finn knew he couldn't pull off Material Girl, even if pink _was_ a flattering color on him.

He had checked the calendar on which he put important stuff like birthdays and anniversaries. Rachel insisted they had a lot of anniversaries, even though Finn didn't remember most of them. She had gotten mad last month when it had been the first anniversary of when he had borrowed a pen from her in English class. She had wanted flowers and chocolate, or at least a card.

Rachel could be really scary sometimes.

At any rate, Finn hadn't been able to figure out why this week was so important to Burt and Kurt. It wasn't the birthday of Kurt's mom or the anniversary of her death, so what was it?

He glanced over at his brother, who was staring straight ahead at the blackboard.

That was odd.

Kurt was, like, the king of multitasking. Usually during class, Kurt was typing notes on his laptop, instant messaging with Artie, texting Mercedes, and passing notes with Brittany.

But today he was just staring.

And that's when Finn's light bulb flipped on.

Kurt was _waiting_.

For what, Finn had no idea, but he doubted it was anything good.

* * *

Tina paused in her conversation with Mike to watch the odd progression coming her way.

Kurt was walking down the hall, books clutched in his arms, eyes on the floor, as Quinn and Puck flanked him. Their glares advised everyone to stay away and no one was going to challenge that. Artie was just ahead of them, parting the crowd like Moses had the Red Sea.

"What's that about?" asked a confused Mike.

Tina chewed on her lip. "I don't know," she said softly, "but this happens every year."

He blinked owlishly. "It does?" He wondered how in the hell he had ever missed this ... conglomeration. Artie made sense, of course. He was Kurt's best friend and had been since anyone could remember.

She nodded. "Since sixth grade. Every year, at about this time, those four become as thick as thieves. No one knows why and no one has ever asked."

"But they're not even friends."

"Not now," Tina said, "but they used to be. When we were young, they were best friends."

Mike arched a brow. "Kurt and Puck were friends?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I know, it's really weird, but when you stop and think about it, has Puck actually ever _hurt_ Kurt?" She shook her head. "If anything, he's kept the worst bullies at bay. It's kind of an unspoken rule that Kurt belongs to Puck, so no one messes with him _too_ much."

"What about Karofsky?" Mike asked.

She frowned. He had raised a good point. "That's new," she said, "and weird. I'm surprised Puck hasn't put a stop to that already, because Karofsky knows better. Something's changed."

Mike had a pretty good idea about what had changed for Karofsky, and he thought it was gross. His tormenting Kurt had been a lot more than pulled pigtails, and if the big doofus honestly thought he'd _ever_ have a chance with Kurt, he had to be smoking crack, because, _no way_.

"I think Puck's waiting for Sam to do something," Tina added.

Mike nodded. That made sense. It was totally obvious that Sam was head over heels for Kurt, who appeared equally as enamored. For whatever reason, however, Kurt kept Sam at bay. Sam was upset and frustrated, but he had backed off. Mike thought it would suck if Kurt actually succeeded in driving Sam from him.

"I can see Kurt and Quinn as friends," Mike said thoughtfully. In fact, now that he was considering it, he flashed back on all of the times he had spied Kurt and Quinn staring at each other during rehearsals. He had thought it was just some cheerleader thing, but maybe it was more. It was entirely possible they had been holding entire conversations, just without words. They were scarily alike.

He could even buy Puck and Kurt as friends, or at least antagonistic companions. Tina was right; Puck had always talked a big game about Kurt, but had stopped short of causing him actual physical harm.

Now he wondered if that was all by design; if Kurt and Puck, for whatever reason, had feigned their mutual loathing for an altogether different purpose.

Quinn, Puck, and Artie as friends, minus Kurt, was a harder sell - at least upon initial reflection.

But Mike knew Puck and Quinn had always been a thing - before, during, and after her relationship with Finn. Finn had appeared, at the time, to be the center of Babygate, but what if he had actually been on the periphery? What if Quinn had dated Finn for some other reason?

But why? To distance herself from Puck? To deflect anyone who questioned seeing them together? As Finn's best friend and girlfriend, no one had ever thought twice about Puck and Quinn always being in each other's vicinity. After Beth's parentage became known, however, everyone thought back on those interactions and had nodded sagely, secure in their belief that Puck and Quinn were nothing more than backstabbing sluts.

But it was slowly changing.

Puck had stopped bullying Kurt. Kurt and Quinn had teamed up to captain the Cheerios. Puck and Artie had boys nights and were now often seen with each other, not worrying about what other people thought. Kurt, Artie, and Quinn were the top three students of their class, so no one thought twice about seeing them studying together in the library.

Fitting these pieces together was giving Mike a headache. All of this was just way too Agatha Christie for him.

* * *

Mercedes knew something was wrong with Kurt, probably whatever had been wrong last year.

The only reason she hadn't said anything was because she knew better. She had pushed last year, and Kurt had pushed back. _That_ had been new. And he had pushed _hard_.

She knew Kurt let her get away with a lot of stuff, way much more than he would anyone else, even Artie, so when he told her seriously that she needed to back off, she had heeded his words.

The fact that Quinn, Artie, and Puck had backed him up with menacing glares and promises of pain might have had something to do with her acceptance.

She didn't know what it was that tied them together, but it was a visceral thing. She could all but see it.

She suspected a secret, but had no idea what it could have been nor to whom it belonged. She didn't like secrets, had always wanted to ferret them out, she was a lot like Rachel that way, which bothered her.

She understood that people had a right to their privacy, to their secrets.

Even Kurt.

The bottom line, though, was that her friend was hurting and she could do nothing about it.

That just about drove her insane.

* * *

Santana stared after Kurt, for once not ogling his fucking _amazing_ ass as he strutted away.

There was no strut today, just quiet defeat.

That really, _really_ upset her.

No one defeated Kurt Hummel.

That was the first thing she had ever noticed about him, way before they had become friends and occasional groping partners: Kurt never let _anyone_ get the better of him.

Oh, sure, people pulled shady shit on Kurt and then walked away laughing, but that was all the public ever saw. They had never seen the truly awesome hoodrat shit Kurt would throw back in his tormentors' faces, and those assholes had never said anything. They knew when to keep their mouths shut.

High school was all very _Hunger Games_ , as Santana had once heard Carole Hummel say, and it was true. School was all about who knew who and who blew who and alpha girls and pack mentality and whatnot.

Trouble was, Kurt didn't play high school games. You fucked with him enough, provoked him enough, and you found out real damn quick that Rainbow was in a whole other league.

She liked that about him.

She liked him in general.

Sure, she had only initially paid him any attention because of Brittany, but the fact that Brittany liked Kurt Hummel _so much_ should have clued her into his awesome.

Now she was clued in and happy to be a part of it.

So when he had walked up to her today in between classes, she hadn't given it much thought, instead anticipating some delightful morsel of gossip or witty rejoinder.

What she had gotten instead was almost paralyzing.

"Do whatever you have to do to keep Brittany as far away from me as possible," he had said. "No calls, emails, texts, visits. Nothing. For at least a month, maybe longer."

Her mouth fell open as she stared at him blankly.

What?

No, seriously, what the fuck?

But she didn't say that, couldn't find the words, because she had looked into those dewy Disney Princess eyes of his and saw...fear. Fear so rife it almost stopped her heart.

He was terrified.

But not for himself, no. For Brittany. He was scared for Brittany. Keeping Brittany away from him somehow translated into protecting her.

If there was one thing Santana understood, if there was one purpose to her life, it was to protect Brittany.

And somehow Kurt _got_ that she had understood his command.

He had opened his mouth to say something else, but after hesitating a moment, he closed it and nodded at her before walking away.

Her heart jumpstarted and, for no reason she could immediately discern, she was frightened that this might be the last time she would ever see him.

* * *

The tension in the choir room was so thick it could have been filleted.

Will had no idea what was wrong, and while Rachel had tried to get everyone to sing about their inner angst, he had a pretty good idea that wasn't what his kids needed.

He had noticed the perplexing new dynamic of Puck, Kurt, Quinn, and Artie. It was rather difficult to miss.

They simply didn't make sense together, but the more he looked at them, studied them, the more he noticed how at ease they were with each other. This wasn't the result of Glee. This was down to long established patterns and behavior. These four knew each other, truly _knew_ each other.

Outside of Artie and Kurt, they hardly ever interacted. Now, however, they were all but screaming their desired isolation. It was apparent they didn't want anyone even to approach them.

He also noticed how an extremely distressed Mercedes and Finn were regarding Kurt, obviously disconcerted not to be included, but also not challenging it. Tina and Mike looked grave, yet said nothing.

Sam, as usual, was making cow eyes at Kurt but, this time, his looks were laced with concern and unease.

Rachel only noticed something was amiss after she made an outrageous demand and Kurt had said nothing to her. She had given an exaggerated blink and turned slowly toward him, stunned to see the company he was now keeping. Even more upsetting was that he was paying her absolutely no attention.

Everyone was jolted from their thoughts when all of their cell phones simultaneously beeped, chirped, or sang to announce a text message.

No one noticed when Kurt, Quinn, Puck, and Artie slowly looked at each other.

"Oh my _god_!" Mercedes screeched. "Jewbert's blog says that Dave Karofsky and Brett Winters were killed last night! _Murdered!_ "

As they took turns reading the blog entry, as the swears and tears and shouts of concern and fear and outrage encircled them, Kurt and the others said nothing.

He was unsurprised when his phone rang. He answered it. The greeting was anticipated.

"Who is this?" he demanded in a shaky voice.

Finn and Mercedes immediately went on alert, suspecting one of _those_ phone calls.

"Then come and get me, you _fucking coward!_ " he roared into his phone.

At once, all noise stopped. No one had ever, _ever_ heard Kurt Hummel use hooker words. Not even his closest friends had heard him use such language.

Kurt stood, dropped his phone into his bag, which he then tossed over his shoulder.

Quinn and Puck immediately stood with him, the latter's hands on Artie's wheelchair, ready to push him from the room. They said nothing as they walked toward the door, and, though the others were burning with curiosity, nothing was said to them.

Kurt paused and looked over his shoulder, his intense gaze searing into Santana's soul.

"Remember what I said."

She nodded, hands trembling as she gnawed her lower lip, remaining silent even as Brittany demanded to know why Kurt was leaving and Sanny looked so upset.

* * *

This was going exactly how Kurt had imagined, so he found it incredibly easy to hold his piece and wait until idiocy receded.

"You suggest," the first office said, laughing through tears of mirth, "you suggest that on the basis of this little nugget of testimony, we spend _tax dollars_ on an investigation and protective custody?"

His colleague was just as amused.

Puck wasn't. "You stupid prick! Didn't you listen to _anything_ we just said? There are killers running around the fucking city!"

"Watch your mouth, you little shit," the second cop growled. "We know good goddamn well that there's some nut running loose. We got two bodies to prove it, two of your fellow students." He narrowed his eyes. "I'm starting to think we should be asking you some hard questions."

"We would immediately invoke our right to counsel," said a subdued Quinn "and you can't interrogate us without our parents' consent. If you try, this city will be hit with a lawsuit that might very well bankrupt it." She paused and shrugged a shoulder. "It would certainly cost the both of you your jobs."

Her words settled them in a way that Puck's inflammatory condemnation never could.

"You're not getting this," Artie said. "People are already dead. More are going to die. We're trying to warn you now so that you'll be prepared. We're trying to _save_ _lives_." He shook his head in frustration. "Don't you _get_ that?"

"You don't have proof of anything!" the first cop exclaimed. "You don't have any possible suspects, you don't know why Karofsky and Winters in particular were killed, and though you say more murders are coming, you don't know who or why."

"We _told_ you the fucking why!" Puck bellowed, pointing at Kurt.

The second cop rolled his eyes. "Look, I'll be the first to admit that Mr. Hummel has gotten a really raw deal in this town. The entire force knows what he's been made to endure, but there's little we can do about it if he doesn't report the incidents."

He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're telling us that, for whatever reason, Karofsky and Winters are just the first of many, and you're arguing that this killer, or killers, is obsessed with Mr. Hummel." He sighed. "Now, I will admit that after a search of Karofsky's bedroom, we found evidence that he was indeed sexually obsessed with Mr. Hummel..."

"What!" Quinn, Artie, and Puck screamed.

"...but we have no reason to assume that his murderer shares that obsession."

"I'm not the motive, detective," Kurt said. "I'm merely the bait."

The first cop frowned. "The bait for what?"

" _That's_ what we've been _trying_ to tell you!" Artie exploded.

"I fully expect this person will come after me," Kurt said, "but I'm just a perk. Who they really want is my cousin. This is all to get her attention."

The second cop scoffed. "And who is your cousin? Who is so goddamned important that some asshole is running around killing high school kids? Who is..."

"Sidney Prescott," Kurt interrupted. "My cousin is Sidney Prescott."

The detectives stared at him, the gravity of the situation at last realized.

Although there was absolutely no humor to be found in this situation, Kurt couldn't help but smirk.

"Oh," he said. "Are we all catching on now?"


End file.
